Forever For Bonnie Bennett
by Lana Archer
Summary: A season finale rewrite (of sorts). Bonnie takes matters into her own hands come Jo & Alaric's wedding and things get interesting. When her best friend finds out what she's done, what exactly will he have to say?


**Note:** I was never happy with the showdown between Bonnie and Kai. So...TA-DA! (If you see a typo, flick it's nose for me)

(Also, the reason I haven't been updating stuff is because I just binge-watched Empire and well, yeah, I've only just recovered.)

* * *

" _See I was dead when I woke up this morning_

 _I'll be dead before the day is done_

 _Before the day is done"_

* * *

 **Prologue:**

Humanity. That was something the Supernatural had been glorifying for the longest time. The very birth of their existence in fact. Greed birthed the immortal; greed punished them. They wanted an eternity and they wanted to sacrifice everything but themselves in order to attain it. The creation of vampires and the selfishness that pre-empted their arrival should have been telling enough.

Witches paid this price. The onus of that ineffable 'balance' scrawled through the lines of power. They were granted magic beyond their understanding; sometimes even beyond their own grasp. They were afforded front row seats to the unravelling of the world and its ensuing mayhem. They were the first to be sacrificed. The first to be called when answers were needed, when violence was pending, when all else failed as it was want to do. When you created something that only knew how to take and destroy you had to make sure that there was something that only knew how to give and how to protect and save.

But sometimes, and only sometimes, these creatures defied their nature. Defied its magnetic pull to their truths, defied it in the name of love. We should call it something else, lest those who misconstrue love begin to think they understand. They defied it to honour what was 'good' and 'right'; or whatever was left of it in themselves and their world. They defied it because they knew they could; they made the choice. They stood tall while everything around them crumbled instead of their own bones. It was hard to feel like a villain when you were still breathing as the dust settled. Self-preservation could make you any number of things. And in this case, it made a witch become someone even a _vampire_ had to bow before.

* * *

 **Battle Cry**

Bonnie Bennett wanted Lily Salvatore dead. Not incapacitated, not down in the cellar of the Boarding House. No, Bonnie Bennett wanted that feral red-head to be a sack of veined skin festering on the floor by sunset. Too many decisions had been made, decisions that affected her directly, where she hadn't so much as been told what was going on. She could call Damon and scream at him until she herself was blue in the face but right now she'd settle for Lily turning that sickly colour. By her own hand.

She hadn't even played along with the wedding charade that Jo, Caroline and Elena were all aboard. She'd called and made some excuse about feeling ill and needing a little time to herself to be ready for the wedding, knowing that Caroline would be insufferable enough at the helm of the last minute organisation. She didn't give the blonde a chance to talk her into or out of anything; hanging up and looking over at Matt. If they were going to do this they were going to do it now.

"I brought you something." The boy said and she took pause. He opened a gym bag, revealing a host of vampire-hunting weapons. "When Bonnie Bennett has a hunch, you don't ignore it."

"See," she said with a broad smile, "This is why I called you." She clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for coming with me." He warmed at her sincerity.

"Anything for you Bon, you know that." She hummed. She had, and it only made her angrier when she saw the loyalty in his eyes; something that was sorely lacking in the eyes of her other friends.

"Okay, so here's the plan…"

* * *

Lily was thirsty. She could feel the need to feed rubbing against her insides, chafing her skin on the outside and making her tongue swell and grow heavy with want. Her hair was thin and matted with perspiration. The hunger flared and her hand flew to her throat, nails digging in and clawing against the length of her neck. Her vision swam and the smell of blood permeated her cell. A guttural moan bubbled from her cracked lips and she blinked, trying to see through the film coating her eyes to get a sense of where the smell was coming from.

Thud, thud. Thud. Thud, thud. Thud.

Half blind and writhing with blood lust Lily gasped when she felt the phantom fingers of magic press her into the uneven walls. The jagged stone cut into her skin, through her tattered clothes. This wasn't normal. All things considered.

"Kai?" She rasped. A soft laugh told her no. _Bonnie Bennett_.

"Of course he'd be working with you." The witch's voice was hard, impatient. Lily blinked rapidly, trying in vain to get a clear picture of whatever was happening. Bonnie tisked, feeling not _one_ shred of sympathy. "I can help with that." And a few moments later Lily's vision tilted, refocused and brightened back into its usual clarity. Bonnie's smile was half-manic. "You look awful." She remarked. Lily's eyes flitted to the entryway, inwardly annoyed because there was a boy with a crossbow ready and waiting. His nervous fingers would cause far more damage if Lily tried anything with Bonnie. Besides, the witch was harmless – she'd proved it time and time again.

"What do you want?" Lily hissed and Bonnie smiled, a smaller more genuine smile. It was unnerving the vampire still, but a sliver of herself was set at ease. From what she'd gathered with her encounters with the witch and her eldest son, she had nothing to be worried about.

The beam of power that shot through her chest the next second proved her wrong. Bonnie stepped back, anger consuming her features. Lily's arms and legs shook and spasmed, the power sending pulse after pulse of pain through her body. Each pulse radiated through a wider circumference than the last. She'd be dead in a minute.

"I have one question for you." Lily allowed herself to panic. The pain was surreal. The magic was rippling through her like acid; boiling and destroying everything it touched inside of her. She screamed when the spell gripped her heart. "Where are they?" _No_ , not her family.

"I don't know!" She howled. "He hasn't told me yet! I," a scream, "I don't –"

"Okay." Bonnie cut her off. The pain didn't cease. If anything it got denser. Filling her bones with lead, weighing her down as she hung suspended in the dank cell. What a way to die. "You have less purpose than I thought then." Blood filled Lily's mouth; her blood, the precious drops she had left and the bitter poison that was coagulating in her throat from Bonnie's magic. It splattered out of her lips with a pleading cough; black and red, black and red. Lily could feel her bones being pulled to the floor while her skin seemed pinned against the wall – Bonnie's raised hand holding it there. The sensation was unnatural and caused a series of sickening cracks and sounds of congealing tissue moving around – like sloshing liquid in a pot. More screaming.

Matt winced as he watched Lily's body almost melt under Bonnie's magic. Like her skin was being stretched and pulled upward while her bones and muscle and organs grew larger and heavier; gravity pulling them down. He'd never seen anything like it. Looking at Bonnie he realised she was half in a trance.

"Bon!" The sound of his voice startled her and Lily's heart was sucked out of the woman's chest and brought to hover in front of Bonnie's face while the rest of the vampire sagged to the floor; the steam hissing off of the blob of vein-riddled flesh that remained. " _Fuck_."

Bonnie was staring at the vampire's heart. Still beating. With a snap of her fingers it disappeared. She spun around and looked to him. "Let's go." He tried to gauge whatever flashed through her eyes but he nodded instead and held his hand at the small of her back as they raced out. They had plenty left to do and very little time to do it in.

* * *

 **Holy Water**

Finding Kai was easier than she thought possible. But she wasn't looking for him. No, she was looking for six psychopaths. Snorting in her head, she thought "Six Psycopaths" would have been a great name for a band. Bonnie had her hand outstretched, resting on Matt's chest. It kept him in place and also reminded her that she needed to be careful. Not caring about her own life was one thing, but disregarding Matt's life was something else entirely. They were ducked behind someone's tomb stone. This was where Bonnie popped up when she returned from the Prison World and she knew that magic possessed this uncanny symmetry that she _just knew_ would mean the same thing for the bastards from 1903.

As if she'd summoned them herself they walked into view. Kai looked haggard; even from her distance Bonnie could see at least two sets of bite marks on his neck. A part of her growled in approval even as another felt the echo of similar circumstance in her bones. She didn't have time to feel anything toward him; not hatred nor the beginnings of empathy. She had a score to settle, a loose end to tie up. She looked at Matt, a question in her eyes. He nodded when her eyes flickered to the bandage over his neck.

 _Don't move until I tell you to_

His eyes bugged a little when her voice entered his head but he recovered quickly, nodding again. She took her hand off of his chest and lowered both of her palms to the ground. Fissures broke the earth apart and a low groan rumbled from where they were crouched to the group of vitches just ahead. Immediately suspicious; Bonnie felt their magic unravel and seek out the source of what was afoot. She smirked. The clouds above swirled unnaturally and thickened; darkening in their culmination. Rain pelted down as Bonnie rose to her feet, stopping Kai's panic in its tracks.

"It's not much of a welcome home party but I'll take it." He called out to her. With a flick of her wrist she'd sent him away. A kilometre or so? She didn't have time to dwell on details.

" _Incendia_!" She screamed above the crack of lightning overheard. Fire. Fire everywhere.

 _Now._

Matt was on his feet behind her, crossbow at his eye level and he sent arrow after arrow into as many chests as he could. Four were dead. Damn, they made a good team. Well, he made a good side-kick he amended as he watched Bonnie throw herself at a male Heretic who was speeding straight for them. He didn't know what the hell the Prison World did to her but he really hoped it was a phase. That unhinged look in her eyes left him unsettled and it made him wonder how long it had been coming. Bonnie had seen parts of the universe no one girl had any business seeing. She'd died too many times. How strange a thought, he mused, too many times. Like once wasn't your god-given limit for a reason.

Throwing a spelled clip-point knife into the chest of the Heretic coming for him, he cemented the kill with a swift kick to the side of the screaming thing's head. The loud crack and quickly-veining albeit charred skin eased him somewhat. Bonnie was tossing the other man's head over her shoulder when he looked up. The rain slowed and stopped. The pressure in the atmosphere fluctuated until everything was dry and even again. It made his skin itch.

"You okay?" She nodded, but her eyes were down, looking at the bodies.

"It was too easy." She muttered.

"I think you're just stronger than you give yourself credit for." He said seriously. He'd seen her cast spells before but it was never anything like this. "I've never seen anyone do anything like this." He went on as they closed the space between them, among the broken pieces of the vitch-bodies, "And this is coming from me, like the last human standing in this hell hole. I've seen some shit."

"No kidding." Her eyes locked on his. "Are you okay?" She knew that Matt was used to Supernatural stuff what with his history of ghost-baiting and posing as Elena's Capri-Sun every now and then. But was next level, even for them. "I know none of this even makes sense anymore."

"It never did." He admitted, "Not even at first, but I learned very quickly what I was and wasn't okay with. It took me a while but I remembered where my lines were."

"And this is within them?" She teased, throwing an arm out to the massacre they were at the heart of.

"Protecting you and being on your side is." He clarified. "You're my friend and I've watched you try your best to stay true to who you are despite all the fuckery you've been through. It makes it easy to have someone's back when they're still the person you know and love." True that.

"I hear you." She smiled and then turned serious. "But now I need you to let me end this on my own."

"As long as you promise to let me know if you need me." He held out his pinky, making her laugh, "I'm serious. At the very least I'll make a good distraction." She hooked her pinky with his.

"As long as you promise to be on time for that damn wedding." She raised a brow.

"I promise."

"I promise." She . "Now come on, I'll teleport us, we don't have time for hikes."

* * *

 **Your Crown**

This is what it all came down to. How well the one knew the other. Kai had been watching her and Damon for months before he'd so much as let them see his shadow. But Bonnie was intuitive; slyly so.

She was dressed in a shoulder-less lilac chiffon thing. Caroline's choice. The humming of heartbeats distracted her for a moment or two but she blinked and righted her attention. He was close by. Damon was in front of her, saying something. It took her two tries until his mouth made sense to her.

"Jesus Bonnie, _what_ is going on?" He hissed, grabbing her by the elbow.

"Hmm?" She didn't miss Elena's look of worry come annoyance as Damon hurried away from her. Bonnie let him yank her a ways away before she tugged out of his death grip. She'd have thought by now that he knew better than man-handling her.

"My mother is missing!" He said, for the third time probably. She narrowed her eyes at him before they widened in understanding. "…Are you okay?" everything smelled like dirt and blood and …dirt. Why was there so much hay?

"I'm just…" her head swam a little, like she was in a daze, she licked her lips as her eyes landed on his jugular. "Thirsty."

" _Thirsty_?" He echoed incredulously, and he was about to make a snide comment when he noticed the dilation of her pupils before veins crept into view. Alarmed, he grabbed at her shoulders, shaking her until her head fell back. Her mouth fell open a little as he gaped at her when her fangs slid out. "What. The. _Shit_."

"Damon." His name sounded strange when she said it like that. "Damon, I'm thirsty."

"Yeah well you have a lot of explaining to do first!" He snapped. Before he knew what was happening she'd shoved at him – _hard_. He went flying into a haystack but before he could get back up she'd straddled him, her hands keeping him pinned down with an impressive force.

"Funny how the tables turn, huh?" She grinned at him and he could only stare. Bonnie Bennett, as self-righteous and judgemental as they come had and finally gone and lost her damn mind. "She's dead by the way."

"Who?" Panic lanced through him. God, that would make sense – for this to be some rogue/clone Bonnie and the real one be in a well somewhere, dying.

"Your mother." Curve ball.

"Did you? –"

"Yup." She leaned in and her breath tickled his neck as she laughed. "This is the part where you say 'thank you' Damon." Something wasn't right. They didn't touch for extended periods of time. As corpses maybe, but not while they had full control of their motor functions with a hall full of people just around the corner.

"Thank…you." Her teeth grazed his neck and he gulped.

"Can I?" She whispered. Instinctually he wanted to yell 'no' and get her off of him so that he could get all the obviously needed answers out of her. But then he thought about it… Just a moment longer and he figured he kind of owed her. His fight whooshed out of him and her hold slackened, turned dangerously close to a caress.

"Will you tell me what happened?" His voice had dropped lower too, he tried not to dwell on the huskier notes in his tone. When she sank her teeth into his neck he took it as a yes. Damon's body tensed and he let out a puff of strangled air, trying his best to remain still until the entire ordeal was over with. Bonnie let off a moan that vibrated against his skin and he wasn't sure if she was aware or anything, but she pressed down a little harder onto him. Stars. He was seeing actual stars. His breaths were shallow – not that he needed them and his mouth was drying out fast.

When she pulled her head back with a sigh she looked blissful. Snapping back into himself he snatched his hands off of her waist. So much for control over his motor functions. She flashed upright and he did the same.

"We'll talk after I kill him." She promised.

"Kill who?" Damon demanded. She lifted her brows as she wiped at the corner of her mouth. _Fuck_. "…How? _When_?"

"Just keep them safe, okay?" Bonnie was in his space and he was nodding before he really understood. She zoomed away and he was experiencing some kind of aftershock before he remembered what she'd said. Sure he'd keep them safe, but that meant her too.

* * *

Damon was a little dazed as the wedding procession started. Bonnie and Matt were sitting next to each other, with Caroline on the other side of her and Stefan, of course, flanking his new blonde 'bestie'. Matt looked tense and agitated, while Bonnie looked …well, she looked like she always did. But there was an air of confidence about her now and Damon couldn't help but think it was going to get her killed. The last time he saw her so set on something she was yelling at him about taking his ring off. And the time after that when she sent him flying back into their dimension without her. Point being that nothing good for Bonnie came from Bonnie acting like this and that fact had him on edge.

Elena was coming down the aisle, all smiling and pretty. But Damon's eyes kept flickering back to Bonnie's face; reading the inflections, wondering when he'd have to rip someone's throat out. 'Cause he'd do it. Alaric was great and everything but if it meant rescheduling this shot-gun wedding to save some lives then Damon was about to do some redecorating. Bonnie's nostrils flared and her eyes hardened and he almost leapt off the altar then and there. Elena's face was run through with worry when they locked in on him. The girl looked over at Bonnie who had Matt in a blind panic next to her. Jo was coming down the aisle. Bonnie stood to her feet even as Matt and Caroline grabbed at her. She flicked Matt's hand aside and, Damon was pretty sure she'd snapped Caroline's wrist. The crowd began to hum in concern and Jo frowned when she saw Bonnie step into the in front of her.

" _Aperio_!" Bonnie yelled. Someone gasped. Kai appeared next to Damon. He was clapping and grinning from ear to ear. He had a knife in his hand.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you." He called out to her. The gasps had increased now as recognition and understanding rippled through the crowd. "You're a lot smarter than they give you credit for."

"Move and you're dead, Parker." She spat.

"Move and _he's_ dead, Bennett." He hissed back at her. Bonnie held out a hand when Stefan twitched in his seat. The doors to the barn slammed shut and the windows' glass rattled from the vibration of magic in the air. Damon tried to flex his fingers, inch a foot away, anything, but he was rooted to the floor.

"This has nothing to do with them," Bonnie reminded Kai. "You and me; just like in the Prison World."

"You and me?" His laugh was slow and bitter. "You never stood a chance."

"Then why are you so scared now?" She challenged.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt Bon-Bon," he pouted, amused, "Trust me. When it comes to witchcraft, even I, someone who's never had any magic of their own, know better than you. And I am stronger than you."

"Then let them go." She said easily. "If it'll take nothing to kill me. Let them go, they won't get far before you can hunt them down again. What difference is five minutes?" The competitor in him puffed its chest out at the challenge. Beyond that he was morbidly curious about this new creature in front of him. Sure, she sounded like Bonnie, looked like her and even had the pulse of magic in her – but there was an edge now. A glint. Something in her that called to _him_. He was never going to turn her down, not in that dress any way.

"Sure. Come, let's walk." He hopped down the aisle and held out his arm to her, wagging his elbow at her with a smile. Rotating her wrist she fractured the joint with a smile of her own in place as she sauntered past him.

"Bonnie, Bonnie, _Bonnie_!" Damon yelled after her. Along with Matt and Caroline and Stefan. Elena was blubbering already. Her hands were on Damon, trying to get him to move but it was useless and as Kai rounded the corner he looked over his shoulder at the vampire and winked.

* * *

 **The Stakes**

"You look beautiful, by the way." He said once they were outside. The sun was low; just about to set and it made everything glow under the fiery reds and pinks of the sky.

"Quit stalling and give it your best shot." She crossed her arms as she stood opposite him with about a metre between them. She really did look beautiful; what a shame –

Before his spell could leave his fingertips she'd spun him upward and brought him to the ground – _hard_. Winded, but chortling, he eased himself up onto his feet.

"Where was all this fight when it was just us, huh?" He prodded. "You were so sad then, so scared of dying. What happened?" Her jaw hardened. "Finally realise Damon's never going to love you back like that?" She frowned. "For a while it was like that with us, you confused the shit out of me if I'm being honest and I got all starry eyed. But you only had eyes for him, even when you thought it was just the two of you –"

"Is this your plan?" She cut him off, "Boring me to death with your diary entry renditions of _I'm Just Not That Into You_?" She glowered. "I almost **killed** myself because of you, but I realised something. If I'm ever putting it 'all on the line again' or if I'm ever going to die… It's going to be for me."

"Do you want a cookie?" Was he always this exasperating and insipid?

"No, but there is something else you can give me…" She blinked, the rapid flutter of her lashes distracting him as she closed the space between them. He felt a tug in his chest towards her – magic? Her small hands snaked up his front and rendered him useless.

"This cannot be happening…" He whispered with far too much excitement in his voice. That's what he'd seen in her eyes; _him_. He'd seen some of himself in her. Her fingers scratched softly at the nape of his neck and he felt the rush of it shiver through the rest of him. Her mouth opened, just a little bit and he could practically _taste_ her magic. She was making this far too easy for him.

A soft kiss froze him in place. Another gentle press of her mouth to his began to bleed him of his magic. His bottom lip snagged against her teeth and she drew blood. After that, it was all a blur but she didn't kill him like that. No, that would have been a kindness.

She snapped every bone in him, down to his little phalanges but kept his spine for last. Towering over his swollen and bloodied body she swung her hand up and brought him face to face with her. His screams had gotten tedious.

" _This_ is what true power is Kai…" Bonnie's voice was hoarse with vehemence. "They should have never sent you to a Prison World. They should have killed you all those ago when you showed your true colours. But at least now I have the honours." His mouth opened, as if to say something but she tore his head clean off of his shoulders.

 _Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie –_

Damon slammed into her he was running so fast to get outside. His hands were all over her; the sides of her face, her arms and back up to her cheeks again, making sure she was whole and alive. The others came running after, seeing Damon pull Bonnie towards him. She sank into his embrace.

"If you ever do that again I'll kill you myself." He swore.

"Promises, promises Salvatore." They pulled away slowly and he kissed her on the forehead.

"I'm serious," He said, not caring that the others were closing in, "I'm too old to still be worrying about you and your death wishes."

"No death wishes," she grinned. "And about earlier –" her eyes flashed at the memory and his mouth plopped open when Matt cut in and pulled Bonnie to him.

Her eyes were still on him as she was passed around the group to be faffed over and chastised but she didn't mind. The wedding had been postponed so everyone was making their way home or to the Boarding House for a stiff drink. Damon pulled Bonnie aside and said they'd catch up. He sat her down on a bench a little further outside.

"So you're kind of like me now?" He opened up the conversation. She hummed in reply.

"Yes, kind of."

"You have fangs –"

"I do."

"You have super speed."

"I wouldn't call it super." She bumped her shoulder against his. "Besides, we won't be similar for long." He didn't follow. "Remember, when you called me and told me about your genius plan to be human with Elena." Ah, yes, _that_.

"About that…" He sucked air through his clenched teeth and she didn't bother acting surprised.

"Let me guess. Realised that you're true calling is being a harbinger of death?"

"Yes. I just got the t-shirts printed." He grinned.

"Be serious."

"Well I can't exactly leave you alone with Stefan and Caroline now can I?"

"Of course you can," she said seriously, "I respect your decisions. I didn't do this to change anyone's mind about anything – least of all about _me_. I did it because I'd like to worry less about _my_ end-of-times." She pursed her lips thoughtfully, "Honestly, I did it because I knew that it was I had to do to get what I wanted." He turned to face her fully. "And what I wanted was for us to have some peace of mind for a while; for every decision that we make not to be in the heat of the moment. I want to slow it all down and actually have some semblance of normalcy." He loved her in that moment, he was sure of it. She really was the best friend anyone could ask for.

"You didn't just do it for you," he said knowingly, "You did it for us. All of us." He clarified. "And I guess you're right…so, thank you. Because that's all I should be saying right now."

"Damnstraight that's all you should be saying." She beamed. "…So you're really not going to do it?" She rested her head against his shoulder as he leaned back with his arms out beside him.

"Sure, I'd want to do it…for her. But, being human isn't conducive to my lifestyle," he explained, "My brother is a sullen vampire with a penchant for dramatics. My best friend is a Vitch, ssh, that's what we're calling it. And I'm too vampirey for my own good. I wouldn't know how to be anything else." She waited a few moments.

"Have you told her yet?" She should have said something else; 'you could be human if you tried', or 'do it for Elena'. But the words were weightless and false. She wouldn't have meant if she wanted to. Besides, she'd thought about eternity with Damon before; it wasn't half as depressing now.

"I _just_ told you," he said drolly, "What does that say?" Bonnie sighed and blew out air through her rounded cheeks.

"…I killed your mom." She sighed after a long moment. He looked at her askance, but there was too much pride lining his gaze for her to be nervous about his reaction."

"No, you didn't." He said. "She died eons ago. Whoever or whatever that was, was nothing but a bitter reminder of the family I'll never have. One I might not even ever have had, who knows?" She didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry Damon." And Bonnie meant it. "I'm sorry your father treated you horribly, I'm sorry you got your mother back only to have her become your enemy. I'm sorry you came between me and my grandmother and my mother. I'm sorry I lost my father. I'm sorry that when I died the last time I couldn't save you first –"

"I'm not sorry about dying with you." He interrupted her. "Sure, it sounds easy enough to say now because we're back but it's the truth. All I wanted was for Stefan to come back. For Elena to be safe. Everything else I could deal with." She became pensive. "I'm sorry you were the anchor when the Other Side collapsed and that I didn't do more to help you. Think of a spell, or –"

"I changed my mind."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I'm _not_ sorry." Bonnie said.

"You're not?"

"Nope. About any of it."

"How is that?" There was a smile creeping onto both of their faces.

"Because it all led to this. This moment, right _here_." She gestured grandly ahead of them. The barn was a few feet away, lights still shining bright from within and the sky had turned a cool dark hue. "Us, safe. Closer than anyone thought to be possible without going in for the kill," Damon nodded, "Both dead… _Undead_." She corrected herself. "We're probably going to argue for all of eternity." She had a point there.

"As long as I get to drive." She narrowed her eyes. "And make pancakes."

"Do you think Stefan will try and kill me when he realises what I've done?" Her green eyes were serious when they turned on him then. "I know that he was still very much caught up in bringing her back and having her as a mother."

"He wouldn't dare." Damon said confidently. "Beyond the fact that you mean so much to me, and everyone else, himself included... He knows better than to try and lay a hand on you. It's _you_."

It _was_ her. And him. Bonnie Bennett and Damon Salvatore. Forever? He sensed the shift in her gaze, and swore he could read her mind in that moment. He wasn't wrong.

"You're going to be fine. I promise." He held her eyes. "I'll make sure of it myself."

" _Careful, Damon_." The echo of her smile made him think back all those years ago, when they'd danced, like she'd intended. "I might start to think you actually care."

"Just don't tell anyone how much." He winked.

"We should go." She said softly. "They'll be wondering why we're taking so long."

"You just saved the world, basically…they can wait."

And they did. For another hour and a half.

* * *

 **Thoughts?**


End file.
